This invention generally relates to the art of dispensers and, particularly, to a dispenser for dispensing extrudable material, including means for adjusting the metered amount of material to be extruded.
Dispensers for dispensing a viscous or extrudable material have been proposed in a wide variety of designs. Commonly, the extrudable material is dispensed from a cylindrical housing by an advancing piston. When used as hand implements, most such dispensers have one form or another of a pistol grip mechanism, along with a ratcheting or ratchetless device operatively associated with the handle for incrementally advancing the pistol within the cylinder of the dispenser. The ratcheting device may be operated through a trigger member mounted adjacent the pistol grip handle for movement toward and away from the handle.
Although dispensers of the character described for extruding viscous contents have been used for some years, there still is a definite need for a more effective dispenser than has heretofore been available. This has become particularly prevalent in dispensing extrudable condiments, such as ketchup, mustard, tartar sauce and the like, in high volume restaurants or other establishments. In such establishments, quality control is considered critical, whereby precise metered amounts of the condiments are required for dispensing onto a given food product according to very specific xe2x80x9crecipexe2x80x9d parameters. In addition, different metered amounts of condiments are required for different food products, and it is inefficient to have a separate dispenser designed to meter a given amount of material for each volume requirement. This invention is directed to satisfying these needs, to solving the problems and to overcoming the limitations of prior dispensing devices by an improved dispenser which is adjustable to dispense varying amounts of metered viscous or extrudable material.
An object, therefore, of the invention is to provide a new and improved dispenser for dispensing extrudable material, and particularly a dispenser which is meter adjustable.
In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, a hand dispenser is disclosed for dispensing an extrudable material, including a housing for holding the extrudable material, a pistol grip handle and an opening in the housing remote from the pistol grip handle through which the material is extruded. An extruding means is movably mounted in the housing for effecting extruding of the material through the opening. Advancing means are operatively associated with the extruding means for moving the extruding means. The advancing means includes a trigger member mounted adjacent the pistol grip handle for movement in a path toward and away from the pistol grip handle to incrementally advance the extruding means for each actuation of the trigger member and, thereby, effect a metered dispensing of the extrudable material. Generally, metering means are provided for selectively determining one of a plurality of different amounts of material to be dispensed for each actuation of the trigger member toward the pistol grip handle.
Specifically, the metering means include an adjustable stop cam mounted in the path of movement of the trigger member. The stop cam has different cam portions engageable by the trigger member and is effective to limit movement of the trigger member to different degrees and, thereby, vary the metered amount of dispensed material.
As disclosed herein, the stop cam comprises a rotatable shaft extending across the path of movement of the trigger member. The rotatable shaft has the different cam portions about the periphery thereof. The rotatable shaft is mounted on the pistol grip handle, and a manually manipulatable dial fixed to the shaft is exposed exteriorly of the pistol grip handle.
Another feature of the invention is that the extruding means include a piston rod having a series of ratcheting teeth on at least two different sides thereof. The ratcheting teeth are engageable by a drive pawl operatively associated with the trigger member. The ratcheting teeth in one series thereof have a spacing different from the spacing of the ratcheting teeth in the other series thereof. The ratcheting teeth in one series thereof are in exact multiples of the ratcheting teeth in the other series thereof.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.